How to ensure that arms transfers contribute to the internal and external stability of importers and at the same time support human rights and democratization processes – instead of deteriorating the former and hampering the later? This essay outlines a theoretically derived proposition for a way to increase compliance with arms export regulations. I argue that weak international institutions could be strengthened by NGO activity, increasing transparency, and enabling national interest groups to act as domestic compliance mechanisms.

Global Affairs

all regions

Regional Head

This section covers global issues that go beyond a specific region of the world. International regimes and institutions are the main actors in this section. To submit an article, for questions and ideas for the section “Global Affairs”, please contact:

Johannes Klein

Regional Director Global Affairs

Johannes Klein

Regional Director Global Affairs

Johannes Klein is regional director for “Global Affairs”, programme partner of the Impact Group LACalytics and as executive board member Chief Editor for IFAIR’s Think Tank.

Johannes studies EU International Relations and Diplomacy at the College of Europe in Bruges/Belgium. He previously focused on European Affairs and International Relations at the Humboldt-University, Free University and Technical University in Berlin. He graduated from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in International Relations and International Organization in 2014. During his Bachelor, he specialized in Development Studies as well as International and European Law. His strong regional interest in Latin America is the result of a semester abroad at the University of Sao Paulo and a one-year developmental internship in Ecuador within the context of the “weltwärts” program of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. In addition to interning with various international NGOs and think tanks he spent several months working for the German Federal Foreign Office, the European Union and the German Bundestag. Johannes speaks German, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch.